After the massive success of The Super Mario Brothers Movie from 2023 (because we do NOT talk about the live-action movie from 30 years prior), it was no surprise that they’re making another one.  What is surprising, however, is that they’re skipping straight to Super Mario Galaxy, with some elements from other games thrown into the mix.  Two trailers were released over the last few months, with the newest coming out last week, and the Duck’s going to be discussing both in today’s post!

Starting out, one thing I liked was the inclusion of a lot of things from other games, both those that came out before and after Mario Galaxy on the Wii.  This includes Bowser Jr, with his giant paintbrush and bandanna from Super Mario Sunshine, and even a look at Mario and Luigi riding motorcycles over the red sands of the Sand Kingdom (AKA Tostarena) from Super Mario Odyssey, complete with one of those massive inverted pyramids.  Even more unexpectedly, the second trailer shows characters even farther back from Super Mario Bros 2, Birdo (a recurring mini boss), Wart (the final boss), and Ninjis (regular enemies).

Piecing together both trailers, we see that, when the movie opens, Bowser is still tiny and locked up like he was at the end of the last movie.  Apparently, he’s taken up painting, and Mario does not appear to be falling for his faux friendliness.  It looks like, during the Star Festival from the opening of the original Mario Galaxy game, a massive spaceship steals the entirety of Princess Peach’s castle, after which Bowser Jr comes to rescue his father.  While not much else is revealed about the story, we also see Rosalina annihilating the Megaleg boss from Galaxy (she’s certainly picked up some mad fighting skills since Smash Bros).  In the second trailer, we also see that Rosalina is attacked by Bowser Jr in what almost seems like a mad scientist’s lab (perhaps he takes matters into his own hands after Rosalina decimates Megaleg). 

So far, I’m mostly liking how they’re incorporating characters and locations from other games.  Though I do have concerns that the story’s going to feel rushed with so many different elements mixed together.  Bowser Jr using his abilities from Sunshine makes sense, and a, presumably, small cameo from Super Mario Bros 2 also makes sense, considering this is a game they’re never going to make a movie for.  But Odyssey was such a massive, and amazing, game, I feel like they really should have saved that game for a third movie.  (And maybe they will, as I’m sure plenty of worlds and other details from that game won’t make it into the Galaxy movie.)  The most confusing thing to me is a quick shot from the second trailer where we see Yoshi running from a t-rex from Odyssey, alongside…Baby Mario from Yoshi’s Island?  Um…how is Mario a baby?

One last complaint…I don’t like Bowser Jr’s voice.  He normally sounds more like a kid, and in the trailers, he sounds like a teenager.  I get that it might be hard to make him sound threatening if he sounds too kiddish, but we could have found a compromise between shrill child and grown man.  Only time will tell if I’ll get used to the voice like I did with Chris Pratt voicing Mario or if I’ll continue to hate it as much as Fred Armisen voicing Cranky Kong.

Anyway, I’m pretty excited for the movie, despite some areas of concern.  I’m super excited to see Rosalina, as she’s a pretty cool character.  (After all, one of my cats is named after her.)  I’m also glad Yoshi’s more than just a cameo this time, and it looks like Luigi will actually get to adventure alongside Mario just like I was hoping for, instead of spending much of the movie with the two of them separated.  And if you’re as eager to see this movie as I am, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is coming out in theaters on April 1!

Banner image from official Super Mario Galaxy Movie website